/*
 *    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 *    (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *    GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 *    Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
 */

/*
 *    FileSourcedConverter.java
 *    Copyright (C) 2004 University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
 *
 */
package weka.core.converters;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

/**
 * Interface to a loader/saver that loads/saves from a file source.
 * 
 * @author Mark Hall
 * @version $Revision: 1.5 $
 */
public interface FileSourcedConverter {

	/**
	 * Get the file extension used for this type of file
	 * 
	 * @return the file extension
	 */
	public String getFileExtension();

	/**
	 * Gets all the file extensions used for this type of file
	 * 
	 * @return the file extensions
	 */
	public String[] getFileExtensions();

	/**
	 * Get a one line description of the type of file
	 * 
	 * @return a description of the file type
	 */
	public String getFileDescription();

	/**
	 * Set the file to load from/ to save in
	 * 
	 * @param file
	 *            the file to load from
	 * @exception IOException
	 *                if an error occurs
	 */
	public void setFile(File file) throws IOException;

	/**
	 * Return the current source file/ destination file
	 * 
	 * @return a <code>File</code> value
	 */
	public File retrieveFile();

	/**
	 * Set whether to use relative rather than absolute paths
	 * 
	 * @param rp
	 *            true if relative paths are to be used
	 */
	public void setUseRelativePath(boolean rp);

	/**
	 * Gets whether relative paths are to be used
	 * 
	 * @return true if relative paths are to be used
	 */
	public boolean getUseRelativePath();

}
